1. Field of the Invention
The parent application, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a portable, hand-held, electronic survey device adapted for use in the hospitality industry, and more particularly restaurants. The instant invention is broadly directed to an interactive, portable, hand-held, electronic survey and satisfaction questionnaire device having a remote, realtime, signaling capability in response to preprogrammed and realtime stimuli or thresholds adapted for use in the hospitality industry, and more particularly restaurants.
2. Related Art
In many industries, obtaining feedback from customers is important to the success of the business. This is especially critical in the service industries, where the perceived quality of the provided service may be the only distinction between two service providers. Due to both the high level of competition and the variety of alternatives available to the consumer, the restaurant industry is driven largely by customer satisfaction.
Thus, many methods have been devised to gauge customer satisfaction through customer survey information, especially for use in restaurants. These have met with limited success, due in part to the competing goals and constraints imposed on the process. Ideally, surveys generate accurate results when every customer responds. While this is seldom achieved, obtaining responses from as large a percentage of the sampled population as possible is highly desirable. In an attempt to achieve this goal, the survey must be either presented directly to each patron, or made so conspicuous that they will notice it spontaneously and consider completing the survey. Opposing this goal, however, is the constraint that the survey technique employed must not negatively impact the customer""s dining experience by taking too much time, being intrusive, being too complex, or having some other adverse attribute. This not only adds to the negative experience but skews the results. In an attempt to balance these demands, the survey device should be conspicuous, but not obnoxious or demanding; easy to use; quick to use; and comprehensive. Preferably, the survey questions could also be changed and processed easily. It would also be advantageous if certain responses could be instantaneously and remotely conveyed to management in an unobtrusive manner, so that immediate interaction with the customer would be possible and potentially adverse situations could be remedied in a timely manner, prior to the customer""s departure from the dining establishment.
Among the most common techniques currently employed is the use of the paper comment form. Often post-card sized, it is made available to the diner to be filled out and returned to a box for collection. This approach, while widely used, suffers from several drawbacks. Primary among these is the low response rate. These are passive forms, which are often presented on the table and frequently ignored or set aside by customers. If arranged on the table near other items, such as the sugar tray, salt and pepper shakers, and the like, the surveys may not even be seen by the diner. Further, filling out such cards requires the availability of a writing instrument, which usually is not supplied. Therefore, unless the diner has a pen or pencil with them, the card cannot be filled out. Moreover, such paper comment cards are not interactive and cannot supervise or guide the respondent in filling out the survey. Those surveys that are completed and returned may be difficult or slow to process. Typically, the data must be hand-entered into a computer for processing. Occasionally, machine-scannable, xe2x80x9ccheck-boxxe2x80x9d forms are used, but even these are error prone. Even if fully automated, such procedures may require several days or weeks to process the surveys and return the results to the restaurant. While this may be acceptable for long-term forecasting, it is inadequate for identifying and addressing more immediate concerns or successes. Further, gathering information about a recent, or perhaps temporary, change involves the expense of printing a new set of forms, and, if scanned, updating the processing program.
More importantly, the prior art devices, whether paper or electronic, are oriented toward statistical, after-the-fact survey techniques. Whether the information is collected while the customer is in the establishment, or after he/she has left, the processing and evaluation of the survey merely indicates trends or identifies sources of dissatisfaction after the customer has left the establishment. While valuable as information to management, this does not provide the means to interact with the customer who has had a good or a bad experience prior to leaving the restaurant.
It is well known that the best advertising, good or bad, is word of mouth. This is especially true in the hospitality industry. Thus, if a customer has a bad experience, prior art surveys can capture that data in an effort to alter subsequent events, but the customer who has had the negative experience more than likely will not return and will share this bad experience with numerous acquaintances. This xe2x80x9cnegativexe2x80x9d word of mouth advertising is hard to overcome even if the experienced problem is rectified immediately for the benefit of other customers.
Several electronic survey devices have been developed and patented to address some of the above mentioned problems. The use of electronics holds the promise of faster processing and fewer errors, especially where separate data-entry is avoided. However, nothing in the prior art provides for real time, self-administered, customer satisfaction survey systems, methods, or devices, or, more specifically, devices which signal a programmed condition to the manager or other service attendant so that intervention can proceed prior to the customer exiting the establishment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,367 to Casey is a simple device useful for very basic surveying. It is a stationary device intended to be placed in the lobby of a bank, or similar location, to survey customers as they are leaving. A single question is presented on a printed placard, and the customer is given the option of answering xe2x80x9cyesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cnoxe2x80x9d via two buttons on the face of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,315 to Cadotte et al presents a more flexible solution than the Casey device in that it can present several questions and accept three or more alternative answers to each question. Again, the answers are presented on written labels which are inserted into the device in alignment with the response keys. Like the Casey device, this device is relatively large and is intended to be placed in a fixed location within a restaurant and used as the customer is departing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,933 to Adelson et al discloses an early device which uses a microprocessor-controlled slide projector to present a series of questions and accepts answers from a keyboard. It is not generally applicable to customer surveys within service establishments.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,228 to Yamamoto is an automated interviewing device which electronically stores questions and responses in audio format and provides for electronic control of question presentation and response recordation. This device is not generally applicable to customer surveys. It is a large device intended for lengthy questions and answers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,035 to Cohen et al discloses systems, methods, and devices for electronic, self-administered surveys which generate market information for later use by advertisers, advertising agencies, and broadcasters. The invention is directed toward the storage of survey data in a plurality of survey devices and the subsequent upload of survey data from those devices to a centralized data processing unit. The focus of the invention is the historical and statistical value of the survey data compiled. The device cannot be used as a real time tool for determining and signaling or triggering a signal upon the happening of a preprogrammed event.
It would, therefore, be advantageous to provide an interactive, self-administered survey device which is easy to use, which is not perceived by survey respondents as tedious, and which automatically monitors data responses in real time and remotely notifies an attendant or other service personnel of a defined response or set of responses, facilitating immediate interaction with the survey respondent prior to their departure from the service establishment.
It would also be advantageous to provide a self-administered survey device which collects data on surveyed events and, in association with a predetermined or pro-programmed event, condition or set of conditions, response or set of responses, or threshold survey score or set of sub-scores, alerts a survey attendant or other service personnel of these particular responses in real time by transmitting, by means of a transceiver, stored data while the survey device is still in the possession of the respondent. Since this notification of restaurant personnel occurs in real time, and is not merely a download of survey information, it instantaneously conveys information to service personnel, such as, for example, a manager or station attendant, and serves as a trigger for immediate action or intervention by restaurant personnel to either rectify possible service failures or acknowledge service accomplishments.
It would also be advantageous to provide a survey device which triggers interactive and remote alteration of survey questions in real time, by means of a transceiver, based upon certain predetermined answers provided by the survey respondent.
It would also be advantageous to provide a system and method for carrying-out self-administered surveys with remote portable devices, wherein a plurality of self-administered survey devices store selected survey data which can be uploaded rapidly and efficiently to a centralized data processing unit by means of, for example, a transceiver. Further, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method for carrying-out interactive, self-administered surveys with remote portable devices, wherein a plurality of self-administered, interactive survey devices communicate in real time with a remote site and trigger immediate action and intervention by service personnel to alter customer satisfaction prior to the customers departure from the establishment.
There is, therefore, a need for an interactive, real time or near real time, customer survey device which is user-friendly, presents easily tailored questions, requires no additional materials (such as pen or pencil) for use, presents responses in an electronic format that is easily processed without intervening data entry steps, and provides a means for immediate action by service personnel to impact customer satisfaction. Its appearance should be eye-catching but not intrusive. This device is portable so that it can be presented to the customer while they are still seated at the table and therefore inclined to take the time to answer the survey. Operation of the device should be self-explanatory and should use familiar display and data entry methods. Further, the device is advantageously compatible with the low ambient light levels often encountered in restaurants. Ideally, it is presented simultaneously with the check so that its use is a part of the same transaction and not a separate interruption. This will increase the probability that the survey will be completed and not viewed as a nuisance.
It has now been discovered that the disadvantages of prior art survey devices and systems can be overcome with an interactive, electronic, customer satisfaction and survey system having a remote, realtime or near real time, signaling capability in response to stimuli or realized, preprogrammed thresholds. Such realtime signals or transmissions can remotely notify or alert customer service personnel, as well as remotely trigger the transfer of additional, targeted survey questions when a respondent""s realtime survey responses satisfy a predetermined condition or set of conditions. The device""s capacity for real time transmissions while the respondent is completing the survey permits immediate interaction with the respondent either by allowing service personnel to interact directly with the respondent or by remotely uploading additional, specifically tailored survey questions which will more particularly address the respondent""s customer service experience, whether positive or negative.
The instant invention is broadly directed to an interactive, portable, hand-held, electronic survey and satisfaction questionnaire device having a remote, realtime, signaling capability in response to preprogrammed and realtime stimuli or thresholds adapted for use in the hospitality industry, and more particularly restaurants. In the broad aspect, the system of the present invention is a portable, self-administered, interactive, electronic survey device, having means for storing and displaying survey questions and answers, a programmable microprocessor, and a transceiver, such as for example, an RF communications link, for real time or near real time data transmission to a remote unit in response to preprogrammed or uploaded alert conditions or survey responses, and a support system for interaction with said device on a real time or near real time basis to allow intervention in a customer""s service experience prior to that customer""s departure from the service establishment.
In accordance with the instant invention, the survey device automatically monitors survey data responses and transmits data in real time or near real time to a remote unit, such as, for example, a pager, a computer, or other remote unit, in response to predetermined criteria or sets of criteria triggered by a set of particular survey responses.
In one embodiment, the criteria for triggering transmission of a message via transceiver means, such as an RF communications link, to a remote unit is a respondent""s selection of a preprogrammed survey response or set of responses. In another embodiment, the criteria for triggering transmission of a message via a transceiver to a remote unit is a survey respondent""s fulfillment of a preprogrammed survey condition or set of conditions. In a further embodiment, the criteria for triggering transmission of a message via a transceiver to a remote unit is a survey respondent""s achievement of a threshold cumulative survey score or sub-set of scores.
In an alternative embodiment, the system automatically monitors survey data responses and remotely downloads via transceiver means, in real time, additional, targeted survey questions from a remote unit, such as a central computer, remote gathering data unit, or other remote unit, in response to predetermined criteria or sets of criteria triggered by particular survey responses. These remotely downloaded additional survey questions then become a part of the survey being completed by the survey respondent. In one embodiment, the criteria for triggering the download, via a transceiver means, of additional survey questions from a remote unit is a survey respondent""s selection of a preprogrammed survey response or set of responses. In another embodiment, the criteria for triggering the download, via a transceiver means, of additional survey questions from a remote unit is a survey respondent""s fulfillment of a preprogrammed survey condition or set of conditions. In a further embodiment, the criteria for triggering the download , via a transceiver means, of additional survey questions from a remote unit is a survey respondent""s achievement of a threshold cumulative survey score or sub-set of scores.
In a further embodiment of the device, a direct communications link is provided to connect the device to a centrally located transceiver base station, capable of communicating with remote units such as a pager and a computer and remote units, such as a central computer or a remote data gathering unit. The transceiver base stations assists the device with communicating with remote units and remote sites when the device is for example, out of range.
The instant device presents a series of questions, or prompts, to the user and records the answers. The on-board storage is sufficiently large to allow the device to store all of the responses internally, thereby allowing the device to be used for several days, or perhaps weeks, depending on the number of customers. The display is backlit, allowing the device to be used in the low light level situations often encountered in restaurants. The device is small enough to be incorporated into the check book in which the check is presented to the customer, and it is sufficiently similar in appearance to a common calculator that it will be familiar to most restaurant customers. It is easily operated, with answers entered by means of a simple keyboard, and user-friendly. Customers can quickly complete the survey without additional pens, pencils, or paper and without the need to discover where to deposit the survey when exiting the restaurant.
In an alternative embodiment of the device, a direct communications link is provided to connect the device to a remote unit, such as a personal computer or a remote data gathering unit. In this embodiment, the communications link is, for example, a hard wire, infrared, an Internet connection, or the like. This allows transmission of large amounts of stored data faster than over the RF link. This link allows the stored responses to be transferred to the computer and new questions to be loaded into the device. In a further embodiment, the device can load personalization information, such as patrons names or account numbers. This information can then be used to tailor the device for the customer to whom it will be presented. In another embodiment, timers are used to automatically dim the display or shut off the device after it has been inactive for a predetermined period of time.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.